The real issue with doubt in the Life of a believer has nothing to do with what we know or do not know, but rather with the sense of shame or reproach which comes with doubting.
If we doubt God's goodness, does that mean He is going to stop loving us?
If we doubt whether He exists or not at any time, or we therefore forfeiting our standing and our blessings in Christ?
Not at all.
Remember, we are saved by grace, which we receive by faith:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2: 4-9)
The New Covenant is not based on anything that we do, or have done, but everything that Jesus did for us at the Cross:
"And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many." (Mark 14: 24)
Jesus' blood enacted the New Covenant, as explained in the Letter to the Hebrews:
"22But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 12: 22-24)
Here is the New Covenant:
"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
We look forward to His blessings in our lives, we can trust in His leading in our days, and we can rest assured in His promise because He has paid for our sins, and will never recall them again.
This New Covenant is not enacted because we believe, but rather because Jesus died on the Cross, putting away all our trespasses (Colossians 2: 13) and fulfilled the entire law (Matthew 5: 17; Colossians 2: 14) so that we do not worry about keeping the law, but allow the lawgiver-turned-Savior to keep us.
If we do not believe that our sins are forgiven, however, inevitably we will get caught up in trying to make up for the sense of unrighteousness in our lives; we will try to pay off the sense of condemnation which we sense in our dead flesh.
Jesus has put away all our sins, including doubt, at the Cross.
We know that doubt is a sin:
"
14Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen." (Mark 16: 14)
and
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21: 8)
"Unbelieving" can also mean doubtful.
Yet consider also what Jesus did for Thomas, who had refused to believe:
"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." (John 20: 27)
Jesus ministers to us, even when we are doubting. Faith is not something which we conjure up through our efforts, but rather something that we receive as we see Jesus.
Consider also the example of John the Baptist, who had witnessed Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit:
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2Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
3And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
4Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
5The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
6And blessed is
he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." (Matthew 11: 2-6)
Jesus offered John the Baptist verses of Scripture (specifically, Isaiah 35: 5-6). In Luke's Gospel, not only doe Jesus reference Scripture speaking of Himself, but He performs miracles in the same hour following the inquiry from John the Baptist's disciples:
"When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
21And in that same hour he cured many of
their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many
that were blind he gave sight.
22Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
23And blessed is
he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." (Luke 7: 20-23)
When we doubt, we should never worry, nor should we feel ashamed, but instead we can rest in the sure testimony of God's Word, all of which testifies of Christ and Him Crucified:
"
44And he said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and
in the prophets, and
in the psalms, concerning me.
45Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: " (Luke 24: 44-46)
Don't Worry about Doubt, because you are not saved because of your works, but by Christ's death at the Cross. Even if you do doubt, the answer is found in receiving a greater revelation of Christ Jesus and Him Crucified, and so you can rest assured that even your doubts do not push God away, but rather invite Jesus to reveal Himself to you in a greater way!
